Definitions of Culture

" . . . the sum total of the knowledge, attitudes, and habitual behavior patterns shared and transmitted by members of a society."

" . . . the learned patterns of thought and behavior characteristic of a population or society."

" . . . The attitudes, objectives, and technical skills of a society."

"Culture" does NOT mean "high culture" or a "cultured person". It is not just the arts, but "culture" includes all learned behavior.

Culture can be divided into the following components:

Material Culture
Social Institutions
Attitudes Toward the Unknown
the Arts
Language

Components of Culture
Material culture includes:

homes
tools
transportation
clothes
cities
furniture
etc.

Components of Culture
Social institutions include:

government
the economy
education
family
religion
tribe, clan
etc.

Components of Culture
Attitudes toward the unknown:

superstitions
religion
science

Components of Culture
the Arts include:

music
dance
theater
literature
architecture
painting
sculpture
etc.

Components of Culture
Language:

language is a very important component of culture
culture is LEARNED behavior
culture is transmitted through language

Cultural Landscape
DEFINITION:

the forms placed on the physical landscape by human activities
how people arrange the physical space around them
INCLUDES:

buildings, roads, fields, cities, etc.
any change to the physical landscape

Sequent Occupance
DEFINITION

the notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape
EXAMPLES:

Bolivia: The present cultural landscape of Bolivia includes parts from the early Incan Indians, and from the Spanish colonists who conquered them, and finally from the period after independence. Parts of all these successive cultures make up the cultural landscape of Bolivia today.

Acculturation
DEFINITION

cultural modifications resulting from intercultural borrowing
usually this implies changes in an indigenous culture caused by the imposition of a technologically more advanced culture (e.g. colonists)
a one-way transfer of cultural traits
EXAMPLES

The Amerindians of North America (US and Canada) were acculturated into western, European, society. The culture of the colonists replaced that of the Native Americans living here before their arrival.

Transculturation
DEFINITION

the two-way exchange of cultural traits between societies in close contact
EXAMPLE

Mexico: The current cultural landscape of Mexico is the result of a mixing of the earlier Amerindian cultures and the Spanish culture of the European colonists. The result is an entirely new culture.

Culture vs. Ethnicity
they are not the same
culture is learned
ethnicity is biological
the same ethnic group can be divided biologically
In Rwanda: Hutus and Tutsis are of the same ethnic group but they are different cultural groups
In Bosnia, the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims are all from the same Slavic ethnic group, but they are different cultural groups. For example, they speak different languages and practice different religions.
"Ethnic conflicts" are usually "cultural conflicts". Often they are not between different races, but rather between different cultural groups.

..... thanks for reading thi post. i hope you could get a bird's overview of what huge legacy of time this small word called "culture", tags behind it......... :-)